Penguinis Hereis
by aconsultingwizard
Summary: The Marauders summon a ton of penguins into Hogwarts. Teeny bit ofJily at the end, mostly just adorable penguins. Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) History of Magic (Assignment 6)


A/N I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned here (except the penguins who is mine)

Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments) History of Magic (Assignment 6) Prompt: Write about the Marauders at a Halloween party

This is dedicated to Alice (wannabewyler) and the rest of you in Hufflepuff because penguins

* * *

><p>"Look!"<p>

James pointed his finger at the picture. "They're a muggle animal, Lily took me to a zoo this summer and I saw it. There's a specific summoning spell, and then we can bring loads of them here, to interrupt the Halloween Feast."

"Great plan James." Sirius' words were laced with sarcasm. "Only, don't you think maybe, just maybe, our Halloween prank should be a little scary? It being traditional and all."

"No! That's exactly the point. Everyone will be expecting us to have some terrifyingly evil prank. No one will suspect us! It's brilliant!" James looked ridiculously pleased with his latest plan.

"Right." Remus added his voice to the conversation. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that these are Lily's favourite animals?"

James tried to look innocent but failed. "Okay fine maybe I wanted to surprise Lily. But this is a great prank and you know it. You're just jealous that you didn't think of it."

"Fine! Have it your way. For our last Halloween prank, our grande finale, we'll set loose a load of muggle birds in the castle."

"Great! I knew you'd agree with me eventually. And besides, they're not just any birds, they're penguins!"

* * *

><p>Halloween came, and the marauders were anxiously watching James swirl his wand around in the air.<p>

"It's not working!"

"Let me try."

_"Penguinis Hereis"_

"Dammit Prongs I knew we should have gone with the 'release a troll' option!"

"Mr Potter what are you doing? Run along the four of you, the feast is about to begin."

Professor McGonagall watched the boys miserably walk off until they were safely in the Great Hall.

"And now, my dear students, a happy Halloween to you all. Tuck in!"

The end of professor Dumbledore's speech was punctuated by a shrill scream from the Ravenclaw table.

"What is it?! Get it off me! Get it off!"

Everyone turned and stared as the Ravenclaw table erupted in squeals and laughter. A black and white bird was waddling along the table, sniffing and pecking at various meals as it went along. However, within seconds of the penguin appearing another appeared, this one at the staff table. Two more grabbed at Severus' cloak and one snuggled up to Lily's robes. The Great Hall descended into complete chaos. People were running about, trying to catch the penguins but more kept arriving. Someone had spilled a water jug and several penguins were sliding around in the puddle. There was a penguin at the Hufflepuff table attempting what looked like a Happy Feet impression and another stuffing it's face with food.

James and Sirius couldn't stop laughing, even after they noticed McGonagall giving them suspicious looks.

The teachers finally pulled themselves together and tried to banish the penguins, but magic didn't seem to work on them. The penguins appeared to resist all summoning spells and eventually even the staff had to give up. The students were sent off to their dormitories, the Great Hall was sealed off, and the Marauders ordered to spend the rest of their Halloween trying to catch the penguins and clean up the hall, which James said was completely unfair as they had no proof it was them. Sirius had got over his anger at James as soon as he had realised how hilarious and adorable the penguins were, and hardly complained about their punishment at all as the feast had been utterly ridiculous thanks to their prank.

James made sure that a couple of penguins 'accidentally' escaped to roam the castle, but finally, in the early hours the morning, headed back to the common room. The room was littered with rubbish from the party that they had missed, but they were to tired to care. However, James noticed someone huddled under a blanket on the sofa. The other boys quietly left the room and James walked over to where Lily sat.

"Hi. I stayed up for you." She blinked tiredly. "At least, I tried to."

James laughed and brushed her hair away from her face. She stood up , and he saw one last penguin curled up beside her.

"Bedtime. For you and the penguin." He watched fondly as she shuffled up the stairs to the girl's dorms and then went to the guys' dorms where he collapsed onto his bed.

* * *

><p>That Halloween prank was remembered both fondly and not so fondly for years afterwards by students and staff alike. In the weeks following that Halloween classes were frequently interrupted so that a penguin could be removed from the classroom. Lily kept her penguin, secretly feeding it and taking it for swims in the Black Lake until the end of term, when she sadly left him at her local zoo. She and James often returned these, and years later, when Harry was born, they went on family trips to the zoo. Harry, like his mother, loved the penguins.<p> 


End file.
